1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to foldable chairs for use by the handicapped, and more particularly to a foldable caster chair that can be used by a handicapped person in everyday living around the home or in an office, and which is designed with arms that can be swung out of the way to provide for sideways movement by the handicapped individual entering or leaving the chair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Providing mobility to persons who do not have the full use of their legs is a problem that has long been with man. It has become more acute in recent years, however, as the handicapped have begun to move with increasing numbers into the mainstream of both the social and business life of the community. Where once a handicapped individual was expected to simply remain at home, today men and women with various degrees of handicaps are often engaged in carrying out a nearly normal living pattern.
The need for mobility felt by handicapped individuals has been primarily addressed through the use of chairs provided with wheels, and many different designs have been offered therefor. For many years, such wheeled chairs were large, rigid structures, equipped on each side with large diameter driving wheels, and either fore or aft with stabilizing caster wheels. Originally designed to provide limited mobility in the hospital and at home, these rigid chairs are simply unsuitable to be repeatedly moved from one building or location to another, especially by automobile or mass transportation vehicles. Moreover, their bulk makes them difficult for the user to manipulate, especially in crowded rooms or around bathroom facilities.
Over the years there have been efforts at designing smaller wheeled chairs of this type, and as a result their bulk has been significantly decreased. Moreover, wheeled chairs with large driving wheels have also been designed so that they can be folded for easy transportation. The chair shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,206,106 represents an early attempt at a folding wheeled chair, and that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,293 is representative of the kind of modern wheeled chairs with large driving wheels now in widespread use.
Chairs like that in U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,293 fill an important need for the handicapped person. They are especially useful for movement on the streets, in shopping centers, or elsewhere out-of-doors where a wide variety of terrain conditions can be encountered. The large driving wheels ease movement over rough terrain, and the generally rugged construction of the chairs adapts them to rough usage. But at the same time, such chairs have their limitation.
The primary problem with large driving wheel chairs, even though they embody modern design techniques, and light weight materials, is that they are still bulky and relatively heavy. Thus, they are difficult to maneuver within the home, in a bathroom, or about the average office, and they are somewhat difficult to transport from place to place. Moreover, an individual with severe limitations on self-movement can find it very difficult to transfer into and out of such a chair.
A need has thus been felt for a smaller wheeled chair, one that is more adapted to use indoors under relatively crowded conditions. In such chairs the large driving wheels are removed, and instead the chair is mounted on large caster wheels. Examples of such caster chairs are those which are the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,312,602, 2,383,039 and 3,306,297.
While the caster chair is less bulky than the wheeled chair with large driving wheels, it is still difficult to move from place to place. Thus, attempts have been made at designing a caster chair that can be folded, and each of the three patents just identified show such chairs. The concept of constructing a chair so that it can fold is of course old, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 715,346 and 1,029,067, the former relating to a rocking chair equipped with a toilet opening. The problem has been to design a folding chair of the caster type, such that it can be readily used by the handicapped person, and which at the same time will be rigid when erected so as to have the full confidence of the user.
While several designs for folding caster chairs have been offered, they normally suffer from one or more disadvantages. Some are visibly frail in construction, and tend to wobble when used. Most handicapped persons find such a chair unsuitable, for above all they must have confidence that the chair will hold and not fail. As a result, rigidity of the erect chair is a necessary characteristic in a successful caster chair, for most handicapped individuals.
Along with the need for rigidity in a folding caster chair when such is erect goes the need for a design that will accomodate easy folding by the user, into a compact unit that can be easily carried in an automobile. Here, again, most folding chairs now available fail, either because they utilize a complex design that is difficult to fold, or because when folded they are still bulky and difficult to handle.
To understand the nature of this problem, consider an average handicapped business man, who travels about by automobile. Normally, he will have a folding wheeled chair of the large driving wheel type, to ensure his access into buildings and the ability to travel out of doors. But for indoor use, such as in the office, the home, or a hotel room, he has need of a smaller, caster chair.
The large , folding wheeled chair will normally be carried in the back seat of the automobile, since lifting it into the trunk is usually impossible for the handicapped person to accomplish. If a caster chair is also to be carried, it should fold sufficiently small that it, too, can be easily placed in the automobile. Such a caster chair should fold and unfold very easily and must be light in weight so that the handicapped individual can effectively handle it. Typically, the handicapped person must transport the caster chair to the automobile by carrying it on the lap, while moving in the large wheeled chair. The caster chair would be placed in the automobile first, and then the large wheeled chair would be handled in the usual way.
Ideally, the caster chair should also be constructed so that the user can easily enter into and maneuver about a normal bathroom. The chair should be designed so that the user can enter a shower, and use the water closet facilities, with no assistance from others required. Most presently available caster chairs fail in this respect.
Finally, the caster chair should be designed to allow the easy transfer of a handicapped individual entering and leaving the chair. A wheeled chair is normally provided with arms on either side of the seat member, to provide comfort, to confine the handicapped individual against falling to either side, and to assist in entering and leaving the chair. But some individuals must enter a chair by moving sideways, and must leave it in the same manner. In this instance, the arms must be designed so that they can be moved out of the way, to provide such lateral movements.
The problem of providing such movable arms has not yet been solved in foldable caster chairs, to the extent that the resulting structure is acceptable with respect to its other characteristics.
There is thus a need for a folding caster chair that meets all of the demands faced by a handicapped individual. That is, there is need for an easily foldable chair which is rigid when erect, light in weight and compact when in a folded condition, designed for use in the bathroom, and which at the same time incorporates normally rigid arms that can be moved out of the way to allow the handicapped individual to move sideways when entering or leaving the chair. The present invention is intended to satisfy this need.